


exploration of a gayer timeline

by cowardnthief



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Established Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Missing Scene, but mostly canon compliant, except trobed is canon, literally just rewrote a few scenes, mostly??, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29837550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowardnthief/pseuds/cowardnthief
Summary: What if Trobed had been canon?
Relationships: Annie Edison/Britta Perry, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 12
Kudos: 63





	exploration of a gayer timeline

**Author's Note:**

> This. This is what I needed for Troy and Abed. Not some huge dramatic love story, but them getting together and just staying together for the run of the show. It would've made so much sense.

  
**19\. Environmental Science**

Troy’s not sure how he ended up kissing his new best friend after singing a lullaby to a rat, but he’s not complaining. Gay stuff is definitely more awesome than high-school-Troy would have thought.

Abed breaks contact for a moment. He’s breathing heavily, and for a second, Troy is expecting dirty talk, but then he reconsiders, because it’s Abed. Obviously whatever he’s going to say is way better than dirty talk. “Is this becoming a new trope?” he whispers hoarsely into Troy’s ear. “Singing to your science project and then hooking up in your dorm room?”

“Huh?” Troy says. “I hope not. That would be a total rip-off.” He pulls Abed back to meet him, because as awesome as Abed is talking, right now, he’s way more awesome kissing Troy. Then the last part of what Abed had said hits him and he pushes himself away again, wiping his mouth absently. “Hang on, hooking up?”

“Yeah,” Abed says, tilting his head. “Is that not what we’re doing?”

“Oh,” Troy says. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Your mouth is curved downwards,” Abed says.

“Well, I don’t know, dude,” Troy says, taking a step back. He looks around at the various posters on Abed’s dorm wall. He wonders if his parents will notice if he’s not home that night. Probably not—it’s not the first time it’s happened. As long as they never find out what he was doing. “I just...I thought this was more than a hook-up.”

“I figured you wouldn’t want it to be,” Abed explains. “This is a shameful secret thing, right? Even if you manage to move past the whole gay thing, I’m just me. It’s no big deal, I came to terms with it when I realised this was going to happen.”

“Whoa, okay, I’m gonna ignore the fact that you _knew this was going to happen_ for now, but we’re _definitely_ circling back to that later, okay?” Troy says, because honestly, what the _fuck_? Why didn’t Abed say something sooner? “I’m not...I’m not ashamed of you. I never could be.”

“Oh,” Abed says. “That’s inconsistent with your established character development.”

“Yeah, well, people are inconsistent,” Troy says. He crosses his arms. “And I would _really_ like you to be my boyfriend.”

The corner of Abed’s mouth tilts up. That’s basically a full-blown grin. Troy’s insides explode with fireworks.

“Cool,” Abed says. “Cool, cool, cool.”

Troy nods. “So. Can I kiss you, now, Abed?”

“Yes, Troy.”

**18\. The Politics of Human Sexuality**

Dean Pelton’s running after Troy and calling his name. So basically, something’s horribly wrong.

“Troy!” he shouts. “Troy, all the condoms are faulty.”

Troy and Abed turn on their heels to look at the Dean, who’s breathless, bending over and sweating. He either ran all the way here or he’s panicking.

“As the best athlete on campus, I need you to run to my office and make an announcement before everyone leaves,” he says.

Troy glances at Abed, who’s looking at him carefully, like he looks at a particularly interesting moment in a TV show—like he doesn’t know what Troy will do next.

“Dean, I am not the best athlete on campus,” Troy says determinedly. “Abed is.” He lowers his voice. “I know you let me win the race.”

“But you didn’t say anything.” Abed cocks his head, eyebrows knitting together as if he’s recalibrating.

“That’s because I wanted it to be true,” Troy says simply. “But this is stupid. I hate fighting. We never fight.”

Abed nods, leaning forward slightly to take Troy’s hand. Troy’s heart flutters. He’s still not quite used to that, but he’s not complaining. “You’re a really good boyfriend,” Abed says.

“No, Abed,” Troy says. He reciprocates Abed’s gesture with a soft kiss on his cheekbone. “You are.”

“For the love of God, run!” the Dean screams. Right. Troy forgot he was totally losing his mind, and that this is definitely a time-sensitive issue.

“Okay,” Abed says, dropping Troy’s hand and leaving it tingling. He turns in the other direction and starts to sprint. (Really, Troy has been overlooking a lot of the benefits of having an athletic boyfriend.)

“Go, Abed, go!” he shouts. “Before people sex one another!”

**17\. Interpretive Dance**

“Troy!” Pierce chuckles, clapping Troy on the back. “What you did up there really took guts. I’m impressed.”

“Thanks, Pierce.” Troy grins. Praise from Pierce is rare. He usually doesn’t want it, if he’s being honest—no one does. But if _Pierce_ of all people thought his dancing was cool, that must mean it is. At least a little.

“Yeah,” Pierce says, squeezing Troy’s shoulder. “And such a creative way to tell the world you’re gay.”

Troy stops dead in his tracks. It takes Pierce a few seconds to notice, but when he does, he turns around looking confused. There’s no way he... Oh, come on. Pierce assumes _everything_ is gay, this should not be something Troy has to spell out for him.

“Hey, Abed?” Troy calls.

“Yeah?” Abed says. Troy hears his footsteps as he jogs up behind him. “What’s going on?”

“Hey, man, it’s just a joke,” Pierce says with a laugh, gesturing vaguely with his hands. “No need to get offended.”

“No, uh, Pierce,” Troy says, raising his eyebrows and trying to make a very obvious point of taking Abed’s hand in his, waving it in the air, “I _am_ gay. We came out, like, weeks ago.”

“ _What_? But...when?” Pierce splutters. He takes a step away from Troy.

Abed tilts his head, then looks at Troy. Troy figures Abed could pinpoint the exact moment they told the study group and describe it perfectly, but Pierce usually doesn’t understand or appreciate his genius. Troy will have to do his best.

“I don’t know, a few weeks ago, man,” he says. “We told you guys we had a special announcement, and then I held Abed’s hand, and Annie _awwww_ ed and Jeff shook our hands and told us he was bi and Britta basically threatened the whole school in case they were homophobic.” Pierce stares at him blankly. “Come on, dude, Shirley didn’t talk to us for a whole week.”

“How am I supposed to know why she does that?” Pierce says.

“We’ve kissed in front of you,” Abed says. “I’m socially dysfunctional, and even I would pick up on that.”

“Well, screw you. You should’ve told me,” Pierce spits. “I’ve been wasting all my good gay jokes on Winger.”

“Jeff’s bi as well,” Abed points out.

“He told us,” Troy adds.

Pierce grins maniacally. “Jeff _is_ gay?”

“ _No_ ,” Troy and Abed chorus, but Pierce is already running off. Troy almost feels bad for Jeff, but Abed squeezes his hand and looks down at him gently and he forgets to care about anything else.

**16\. Communication Studies**

“This one?” Abed asks, holding a mustard yellow women’s pantsuit up to Troy.

Troy barely has to look in the mirror. “I look like my grandma.”

“And that’s...”

“Bad.”

“Got it,” Abed says, sliding the pantsuit back on the rack and browsing through the rest.

“Thanks for not making me do this with Pierce,” Troy says, maybe to fill the silence. Although probably not, because he never feels pressure to talk around Abed. Abed told him once that he was happy just sitting quietly with Troy. (The exact words he used were, “Your company is enough to satisfy me. You’re perfect.” Troy had cried for a week.) “He probably would’ve made, like, a hundred gay jokes. I don’t really need to hear that stuff.”

Abed nods. No “you know he doesn’t mean it in that way,” no “give him a chance, he might surprise you.” Just acceptance. He pulls a bright blue suit off the rack and holds it up to Troy.

“Better?” he asks.

Troy shrugs. “As good as we’re going to find at Target. In the women’s section.”

“Cool,” Abed says, folding it over his arm. “Cool, cool, cool.”

Troy nods. He still feels a little uneasy about the whole situation. “And you’re sure you’re okay with me being another guy’s...uh...”

“Date?”

Troy snorts. “Sure. Are you okay with me being Chang’s _date_ to the Valentine’s Day Dance?”

“You don’t really have a choice,” Abed says.

“I guess not,” Troy says.

“Although this is probably grounds for a sexual harassment lawsuit.”

“Yeah, I’ll look into that.”

**15\. Basic Genealogy**

“He’s my boyfriend,” Abed says, “Troy Barnes. You remember him.”

Troy stands there, wide-eyed, practically sweating through the suit Abed insisted he wear, as Gobi Nadir stares him down. It’s not like he hasn’t met Abed’s dad before—he has, once or twice, when he visited campus earlier that year, but these are entirely different circumstances. Abed kept saying it would be fine, that his dad cares about him no matter what, but as much as Troy loves his boyfriend, he doesn’t completely trust his judgement when it comes to social situations.

“And he makes you happy?” Gobi asks. It kind of comes out of nowhere, because he’s still looking at Troy like he wants to throw him off a cliff.

“Yeah,” Abed says, lacing Troy’s hand in his. Troy’s heart jumps into his throat.

Gobi pauses, but then nods once, sharply. “Good.” He walks over to talk to Abra, leaving Troy gaping as he turns to Abed.

“I thought that would be a way bigger deal,” Troy hisses.

“Why?” Abed asks.

“Uh, I’m a guy,” Troy says. “Doesn’t that, like, bother him?”

“Oh, he’s known I’m bi for years.” Abed shrugs.

Troy stares at him. A few seconds pass and Abed tilts his head like he’s confused. If they were in a cartoon, there would definitely be crickets in the background.

“What?” Abed asks.

Troy drops his head against Abed’s chest, wrapping his arms around his waist. It’s kind of a relief, but he also kind of wants to punch Abed, now. But he’s not going to tell him that.

“Nothing,” he heaves. “Just...I’m glad we’re cool with your dad. That makes one of us.”

Abed sits his chin on top of Troy’s head. “Cool,” he says.

“Cool, cool, cool.”

**14\. Pascal’s Triangle Revisited**

Troy stares into the study room through the doorway as the lights flick on and off, Abed pacing back and forth. He walks in without thinking.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

Abed turns to him. “Just giving things a finale vibe.”

Troy glares. If Abed doesn’t want to live with him, fine. Who cares?

“Well, how’s this for a finale vibe?” he says. “Pierce asked me to move in with him. In his mansion.”

Abed nods. “More of a spin-off vibe, but you should do it,” he says.

“But we’re boyfriends,” Troy blurts out.

“We are,” Abed agrees.

“You should want to live with me, man,” Troy says. He pouts, and all of a sudden, he feels like a petulant child.

Abed walks over to him, sliding his hands down to Troy’s waist. Troy melts a little, but tries to keep up his glare. He’s _mad_ at him.

“We’re best friends first,” Abed says. “That’s why we shouldn’t be roommates. We’ll end up fighting and putting a masking-tape line down the middle of our room.”

“We just won’t get masking tape,” Troy tries.

“Troy, you should live with someone who you like, but whose friendship wouldn’t be altered because of constant irritation. That’s Pierce,” Abed says. “If you and I move in, we jump the shark. That’ll end it.”

“Well, maybe you’re ending it,” Troy says. The words hang in the air. They meant a lot less back when “it” meant handshakes and special drink and the occasional movie night in Abed’s dorm. Not Troy’s future—not something Troy isn’t sure he could live without. Part of him realises Abed is right. This thing between them is too new and too precious to destroy with a dumb, rushed choice.

“I don’t want to end it,” Abed says quietly. “That’s the point.”

Troy nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I know,” he says, glancing down. He makes a decision. “Fine. I’ll move in with Pierce. But we’re talking about this again in a year, okay?”

“Okay,” Abed says, ducking down to kiss him.

Troy breaks away after a few seconds to whisper, only half-angrily, “And for the record, there was an episode of Happy Days where a guy _literally_ jumped over a shark, and it was the best one.”

“Debatable,” Abed says, and seals the gap once again.

**13\. Basic Rocket Science**

Just when he’s starting to lose hope, Troy’s headset crackles to life.

“Troy?” a voice says—one Troy can’t help but recognise.

“Abed?” he says back, sitting straighter in his chair. He can’t keep the grin out of his voice.

“I’m gonna get you home, okay?” Abed says. He’s doing a character-voice, lower and a little commanding. It makes Troy smile even wider. “You can get that window open by doing the simulation.”

“Okay,” he says. He pauses wistfully. “I love you, man. I wish you were here.”

“So do I,” Abed says back.

“Troy!” Jeff shouts from behind.

Troy turns around in his captain’s chair, covering his mic with his hand. Everyone’s glaring at him.

“Enough flirting,” Jeff says. “You have to get Abed to tell us what to do.”

“Fine,” Troy grumbles. “You’re just jealous _your_ boyfriends aren’t magical genius rocket scientists.”

Everyone groans.

“ _Troy_ ,” Annie says, in a weird voice, like she can’t be sure if she should roll her eyes or gush about how cute he’s being.

“Fine! Fine,” Troy says, settling back into his chair and angling his mic again. “We’re ready.”

“Look at the panel,” Abed directs. “Tell me your recipe.”

Troy looks up at the corner of the room. “Original.”

“How many pieces?”

“Six.”

“Flavour?”

“Tasty.”

“We need to get that up to delicious.”

“That makes sense,” Troy marvels. “You’re so smart.”

“ _Troy_!” everyone shouts.

“Alright!”

“Excellent work, captain,” AI Colonel Sanders says. “Now, keep your herbs and spices balanced while the crew helps you with teamwork.”

It all goes about as well as expected—Jeff trying to smash the window open and Pierce going all crazy and trying to strangle Troy.

Now Troy stands far, _far_ away from the back of the ship, rubbing his neck while the rest of the study group struggles to lock Pierce up. Pierce got a surprisingly good grip. Troy sighs. The price of power.

Abed’s voice comes back over the headset. “Talk to me, buddy, come on,” he says.

“Well, we stopped moving,” Troy says. “Pierce has got space madness, so he’s just old, I guess. They’re locking him up in the back.” 

“Smart,” Abed says.

Troy sniffles. “I miss you.”

“Come _on_ , Troy, it’s only been like, an hour!” Annie shouts at him. “Let’s focus on the problem at hand.”

Troy ignores her. “I’ll tell you everything that happened. I’ll make a puppet show and everything. It’ll be just like a space-race movie.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“Cool,” Troy says with a half-smile. At least he has something to look forward to, now.

**12\. Mixology Certification**

Troy sits at the table between Jeff and Britta, glaring at that guy talking to Abed from across the room. The two of them are drunkenly arguing about something or other—the topic changes too quickly, from what drink Troy should get to which bar is better to whether communism would be good for the American people. Troy doesn’t care to listen.

He walked past Abed and the guy earlier. They were just talking about _Farscape_. It takes guts to hit on another dude in public, anyway, and Abed’s not even wearing his bi flag hoodie. It’s probably nothing. It’s _nothing._

“Troy. Troy, what’re you looking at?” Britta starts poking his shoulder. “What’re you...what’re you looking at?”

“Nothing,” Troy says through gritted teeth. He’s not Abed’s psycho girlfriend. He can’t exactly just walk up to the guy and yell at him for _talking_. Plus, he’s not big on advertising to a bar full of drunk and quite possibly homophobic people that he’s gay. That’s a one-way ticket to getting hate-crimed.

“Oh! _Oh_ , oh _no_ ,” Britta says. Troy grimaces. Does she really have to yell right in his ear?

“What?” Jeff slurs.

“That guy’s talking to Abed,” Britta explains. “Look—look, his hand’s on his leg. Oh _no_. Troy, you have to go over there.”

“I don’t have to do anything,” Troy says. “It’s probably nothing.”

“He’s flirting with your boyfriend,” Jeff says, and of course this is the first time he and Britta agree on something tonight.

“Exactly!” Britta says. She starts talking indistinctly at the same time as Jeff, the two of them vaguely pointing at each other and very loudly saying that Troy should go over and do everything from kiss Abed full on the mouth to punch the guy off his stool.

“Alright!” Troy says, mostly to shut them up. “Alright. Fine. I’m going over there.”

“Yeah!”

“Go, go, go, go...”

Troy disentangles himself from Jeff and Britta and sidles around the table. He steels himself. He doesn’t have to tell the guy he’s Abed’s boyfriend. He can just...he can... 

He hasn’t come up with a brilliant plan by the time he’s only a few steps away from the two of them.

The guy has a moustache. Troy doesn’t trust him.

“Abed, would you like to have gay sex with me?” the guy asks. Apparently, he hasn’t noticed Troy yet. Abed turns his head, giving his beer his freaked, get-me-out-of-here look.

“Whoa,” Troy says, his eyes widening, walking up to stand beside Abed. He throws all caution to the wind and wraps an arm around Abed’s shoulders protectively.

“Oh,” the guy says, retracting his hand from Abed’s knee like he was burnt. “I didn’t... I didn’t realise.”

Troy just glares at him. Maybe that’s kind of dumb, because it’s not really the guy’s fault. Troy doesn’t really care right now.

“I’ll just...leave...”

“Yeah,” Abed says.

The guy slides awkwardly off his chair and shuffles down to take another seat at the bar. Troy doesn’t bother to watch, instead sitting down opposite Abed and squeezing his leg reassuringly.

“You okay?” Troy asks.

Abed shrugs. “Why wouldn’t I be? Classic rom-com trope.” Troy cracks a smile despite himself. (Abed’s too awesome not to grin at, sometimes.) “I’m sorry I didn’t realise. You must be hurt.”

“Well, I didn’t _love_ seeing you get hit on by another guy,” Troy says carefully, “but it’s not really your fault.”

“Not really,” Abed agrees. “I did like talking about _Farscape_ with him, though.”

Troy frowns. “Oh.”

Abed tilts his head, brow furrowed. His next words are slow and careful, like he’s waiting to see if they’ll land. “But...you’re more fun to talk to?”

Troy snorts. “Love you too, buddy.” He doesn’t glance around the bar before taking Abed’s hand. He doesn’t care about any weird looks they might get. He can always get Jeff to beat people up, anyway.

Abed’s warm. His fingers lace delicately over the back of Troy’s hand.

“What was the guy’s name?” Troy asks.

“Robert,” Abed says.

“Gross,” Troy says. “Sounds like an old guy.”

“Yeah,” Abed agrees. “Thanks for saving me.”

“No problem.”

**11\. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons**

Troy follows Abed silently into his dorm room. Abed’s distracted, humming some tune under his breath. He kicks the door closed behind himself, heading straight for his DVD collection and running his forefinger along the titles.

“Hm,” he says. “What do you wanna watch?”

“Whatever,” Troy says bitterly, sitting down on the far corner of Abed’s couch with his arms crossed over his chest. He kind of hopes he’s not pouting, but he also doesn’t really care. He has a right to be pissed.

Abed turns on his heel. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Troy says haughtily. “Nothing at all. You pick the movie, go on.”

Abed’s arms drop to his sides. “I know from past experience that people will sometimes say that nothing’s wrong when they really mean they want me to ask them more about it. If this is one of those situations, I’m really going to need you to tell me, or I’m just going to put on a movie.”

Troy glares. He could just leave this. He could be mad in silence for a few days until it passes, but he doesn’t want to.

“You had imaginary-sex with Annie!” Troy accuses.

Abed frowns. “No, I didn’t.”

Troy gasps, bringing a hand to his chest. “Uh, yes, you did. We were all there. We all heard it. It was way too kinky for me to ever be able look Annie in the eye again.”

“Hm. No, that was the elf maiden, not me,” Abed says, sitting down on the couch next to Troy. Troy pulls his leg up so he can properly face him. “And Hector the Well-Endowed.”

“Oh, come on,” Troy says. He covers his face with his hands.

“Troy,” Abed says, putting a hand on Troy’s shoulder, “I would never imaginary-cheat on you. You have to believe me.”

“Save it,” he says.

“No, really,” Abed says. “Hector...he meant nothing to the elf maiden.”

Troy scoffs, shoving Abed’s hand off his shoulder and standing dramatically up off the couch. “I’m tired of your excuses.”

“Why are you so upset?” Abed stands up to tower over Troy. “I didn’t see Bing-Bong the Archer leaping to seduce the elf maiden back in the field of Pegasi.”

“Well...” Troy splutters. He stares angrily up at Abed. “That doesn’t mean I wanted Annie to imaginary-tie you up and imaginary-spank you right in front of me!”

“Yeah, I think we found new ways to disappoint Shirley,” Abed says quietly.

The dorm room is silent. Troy still glares at Abed while Abed looks off to the side somewhere, as if considering. Troy swallows.

“What if...I made it up to you?” Abed says carefully, meeting Troy’s eyes.

Troy pouts, his brow furrowing. There’s a pause. “If you insist,” he says.

Abed nods. “Cool.”

He cups Troy’s face in his hands and pulls him in. Oh, Annie has no idea what she’s missing.

**10\. Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking**

Abed’s hand on Troy’s shoulder is firm, which is good, because otherwise, Troy would probably bolt. Abed walks him steadily towards actor _LeVar-fucking-Burton_ , and Troy tries seriously not to implode. He whimpers under his breath.

“It’s okay,” Abed whispers.

LeVar is still sitting in the study room, eating, right where Troy left him. Abed taps the table in front of him with two fingers and Troy resists the urge to scream and run away.

“Hello,” Abed says.

LeVar looks up, slowly putting his fork down on the table. “You’re back?”

“He is,” Abed says, directing Troy to a chair and pulling one up for himself. “But I’m also here, this time. For emotional support.”

“Uh...okay,” LeVar says. He gestures to some spot behind Abed. “What’s that guy doing here? And why does he have a camera?”

“Oh, that’s just Garrett,” Abed says. “I’m making a documentary about Pierce and his bequeathals, and this is the only storyline that hasn’t been given a conclusion. So I’m interfering.”

LeVar nods like he wouldn’t expect anything else. “Yeah. This is a weird place, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” Abed says. He nudges Troy. “Go on.”

Troy keeps his eyes trained on the table in front of him, fumbling for the piece of paper on his lap and shakily bringing it in front of him. He can feel Abed and LeVar’s eyes on him, but he can’t speak.

“Troy has some questions about Star Trek,” Abed prompts.

“Go ahead,” LeVar says.

Troy straightens out his paper and clears his throat. It does kind of help having Abed next to him.

“What time did you guys have to get up in the morning?” Troy starts. “Does every writer write for one character? What’s a best boy? I saw it in the credits once. Why don’t they call it Planet Trek?”

LeVar stares at him blankly, like he’s surprised Troy can form words at all. Troy glances to Abed, who’s almost-smiling proudly.

“You...never go to a star,” Troy adds. “Not one episode.”

**9\. For a Fistful of Paintballs**

Troy figures it’s the right time to stick his head out of the trash can he’d been hiding in. He wants it to be way more badass than it actually ends up being. He coughs and splutters before vaguely aiming his guns at some blurry shapes he really hopes aren’t Britta and Shirley.

“Hey, Troy,” says a familiar voice, and as soon as Troy hears it, he stops aiming, and generally forgets to deputise.

“Abed!” he calls, delighted.

“I thought you were dead,” Abed says.

“I thought _you_ were dead,” Troy replies.

“Guys!” Britta shouts.

Troy was about to get up out of his trash can, walk over to Abed and kiss him, but then he sees Britta, Shirley, Jeff and Annie glaring at the two of them and he steels himself.

“Oh, right,” he says, furrowing his brow and aiming his guns at Jeff, Annie and Abed again. “By the power vested in us as deputies, we now pronounce you arrested.” He tries to keep the disappointment out of his voice as he gives Abed his best “I’m sorry” look.

“What are you, deputies of the stairwell?” Jeff scoffs.

“Fort Hawthorne,” Britta replies.

“There’s a bounty on your head, my friend,” Troy says as Shirley points to the Wanted poster behind Jeff.

Jeff’s eyes bug out. “My forehead’s not that big, right?”

Britta shrugs. “It’s not small,” Troy admits.

Britta and Shirley start leading Jeff, Annie and Abed down the hall towards the kitchen, so Troy figures it’s a good time to scramble out of his hiding place and stumble after them. He jogs a little to catch up.

“Abed,” he whispers. “I’m sorry.”

Abed shrugs. “It doesn’t matter. I have a feeling Pierce will betray us all. We’ll end up on the same side.”

Troy smiles. “Cool.”

Abed stops for a moment, turning around to press his lips to Troy’s before continuing to walk. Troy grins even wider as he follows.

**8\. For a Few Paintballs More**

“Jackpot,” Troy says as he opens the supply closet. He shoots Abed a grin before turning to Shirley. “Shirley, you keep watch while we get these.”

Shirley nods, spinning a gun on either finger as she takes her place next to the door. Troy starts sorting through bullets and buckets of paint. “Here, help me with this,” he says. He’s still caught off guard when Abed comes up behind him, sliding his hand on his waist.

“Sure thing, your worship,” Abed says, his voice low.

Troy stops in his tracks. “Um, Abed? What are you doing?”

“Come on, admit it,” Abed says. He reaches across Troy for a handful of bullets, which he slowly loads into his gun. “You like it.”

Troy did like it, but this was definitely not the time to be imaginary-hit-on by Abed’s (much hotter) version of Han Solo. He lets out a strangled sound as Abed presses closer. “Hey, man, Greendale is kind of in the middle of a war, so,” Troy rambles, “maybe this isn’t the time.”

Abed lets out a breath that brushes across Troy’s neck. Troy can feel him about to say something else when Shirley interrupts.

“I hope I don’t get shot waiting out here,” she says. “I’d hate to go home to my babies.”

Abed slowly steps back, and Troy can finally breathe, but the smirk he gives him as he puts his gun back in its holster leaves his throat dry.

* * *

“Shirley, nobody’s making it out of the library,” Abed says into his headset. “Pull the fire alarm.”

Troy ducks behind the table, breathing heavily as City College storm troopers shoot at him and Abed. The two of them take turns shooting, but they hardly ever hit a target. It’s hopeless. Troy has no idea where Annie is, but he hopes she made it out alive. Britta and Jeff need her on the front lines.

Abed tries to shoot at the enemy soldiers, but his gun only makes an empty clicking noise. He takes cover behind the table again. “I’m out.

“Me too,” Troy says, tossing his gun to the side.

“Alpha 17, move in.” The metallic voice of the City College storm troopers carries across the hall, their footsteps clanking on the plastic-covered floor.

“Looks like this is it,” Troy says bitterly. He looks at Abed, all smouldering stare and vest which would probably look like a stupid, hastily-put-together Han Solo cosplay on anyone else, but on Abed, it just looks stupidly hot. “Will you still be Han Solo after we die?” Troy asks hopefully.

“Afraid not, doll,” Abed says. “Once I’m gone, I’m gone.”

“Oh,” Troy says. He swallows and tries not to think about the fact that he kind of likes being called “doll”. At least by Abed. “Okay.”

Abed pulls him into a kiss as the alarm starts ringing across the campus. Troy feels a faint hint of victory, but mostly he’s distracted by Abed’s mouth, which is hot and insistent, just like Han Solo would kiss Leia. It’s dizzying. Troy is barely aware of the paint raining down on him.

A few seconds pass before Abed pulls away, his regular expression back on his face, his hair plastered to his skin with orange paint. Troy feels hot all over and he’s pretty sure his insides have completely melted, but he’s mostly glad to see Abed again. He’s also going to have to figure out how to ask him to bring out that Han impression in the future.

**7\. Biology 101**

“What are we gonna do without Pierce in the study group this year?” Annie asks.

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” Jeff says sarcastically.

Troy figures this is the perfect time to lead into what he and Abed wanted to say to the group. “Speaking of figuring things out...” he starts, giving Abed a look, “...me and Abed have an announcement.”

Everyone looks at them, their brows furrowed.

“Uh...guys,” Jeff says, “need I remind you, you already came out to us.”

The rest of the group all nods, intermittently throwing in, “Yeah,” and, “Like two years ago.”

“Troy and I are living together,” Abed clarifies.

“What about that made you think we were coming out?” Troy says incredulously.

“Because that’s a fucking weird way to lead up to ‘we’re living together,’” Jeff says, typing something out on his phone.

“Jeffrey! Language,” Shirley scolds.

“Sorry,” Jeff replies.

“I hate to agree with Jeff, but...” Annie says, grimacing. “That _is_ a little misleading.”

“Well, maybe you can use your grown-up brains and figure out that we’ve already come out, so it must be something else,” Troy grumbles, sitting back in his chair. “You totally ruined our announcement.”

“Aw, we’re sorry,” Annie says. Then she smiles, clasping her hands in front of her. “But living together! That’s a big step.”

“I did promise Troy that we’d talk about it again in a year,” Abed says.

“What? When did that happen?” Britta asks.

“A year ago?” Troy says, rolling his eyes. “Basic math, Britta. Figure it out.”

Annie clears her throat lightly. Troy looks over at her. She’s biting her lip nervously, not looking at anyone. “Well, um, speaking of figuring things out—” she starts carefully.

“ _You’re_ living with us!” Troy guesses.

“What? No,” Annie says, scrunching up her nose. “Troy. Really? I’m trying to come out to you guys.”

The room’s suddenly so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Annie doesn’t say anything. She’s still staring at her clasped hands in front of her. 

“Is that okay?” she says quietly.

“Yeah,” Abed says.

Annie smiles softly at him. “Cool.”

“Oh! So I can finally have a lesbian friend?” Britta grins, clapping her hands together. Then her smile slides off her face. “I mean. A friend like any other, right? Who am I to say what the norm is?”

Everyone groans, except Annie, who just smiles. Troy has to grin back. He knows what a relief this must be to her.

“Hey, maybe you _can_ live with us,” he suggests. “Your lease is almost up, right? And your apartment is kind of a craphole.”

Abed looks at Troy for a moment, and for a second, Troy wonders if he’s fucked up. But really, they’ve been talking about getting a roommate since they moved in—the rent is way too high for them to pay by themselves—and who’s a better choice than their Annie?

“I think that’s a great idea,” Abed says.

“Thanks, guys,” Annie replies, tilting her head slightly. “I’ll think about it.”

That’s when the Dean walks in, and Jeff gets too absorbed in whatever he’s saying and whatever outfit he’s chosen for that day. In the distraction, Abed leans into Troy and gestures at Britta, who’s looking at Annie thoughtfully.

“They’re endgame,” Abed whispers.

Troy nods. “Cool.”

**6\. Contemporary Impressionists**

Troy stares at the floor in front of him. He’s seething. He’s so angry, and it’s so wrong, because Abed doesn’t make him angry. Abed doesn’t frustrate him like he does other people. Troy can’t be one of those people who Abed annoys. He can’t. It’s so foreign.

Abed sits down on the bunk bed adjacent to Troy. The silence is heavy, loaded, and Troy wonders if Abed can feel it. He’s not sure if Abed is lucky or not if he can’t.

“Are you mad at me?” Abed asks, and it nearly breaks Troy’s heart.

“No,” Troy says, because he wants it to be true.

“Cool,” Abed says. Troy glances up to see him chewing on his lip. It’s a nervous habit. “I was gonna go in the Dreamatorium and play Inspector Spacetime.”

Troy scoffs. Of course he is. Because Abed never has to deal with consequences, does he? (The thought is so bitter, it nearly makes him cry.)

“Have fun,” Troy spits.

Abed waits for a moment before standing up and heading out of the blanket fort and towards the Dreamatorium. This is when Troy realises he might be majorly fucking up. Friends don’t like. _Boyfriends_ don’t lie. If he lets this go, it’s like leaving an open wound untreated. Abed will still trust what he says, and Troy will have to know he shouldn’t. Worst of all, Troy will always resent Abed, at least a little bit. And he can’t handle that.

“Abed?” he calls. He nearly shakes with the effort. He hears Abed’s footsteps stop. “Come here.”

Abed walks back into the blanket fort, slowing to a stop in front of Troy. It doesn’t give Troy nearly enough time to figure out what he’s going to say. Abed waits patiently, quietly, for Troy to figure out his words, arms by his sides.

“I am mad at you,” Troy says.

“You said you weren’t. We never lie,” Abed says.

“I know,” Troy says bitterly.

“We made a deal,” Abed says. “October 15, 2009. Boyfriends don’t lie to each other.”

“I know!” Troy says. His voice cracks. “I lied. Because you don’t like people who tell you what to do, and I don’t want to be one of those people.”

“Then don’t be.”

“I have to be,” Troy says, looking up into Abed’s eyes. They’re dark, and gentle, like always—but there’s something broken in there, now, like shattered glass. “You have to stop renting celebrity impersonators. Vinnie was gonna break both your legs. I had to work really hard to help you.”

“But that’s what you wanted to do.”

“Yes.”

“But I can’t do what I want to do?”

“I guess not. Not all the time,” Troy says. “Sometimes, you’re just gonna have to trust that I know better about stuff.”

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Abed says. And that’s it—it’s that simple. Abed doesn’t trust him. Troy kind of always knew it. Abed doesn’t trust anyone. He can’t. But Troy had a small hope that maybe he’d be the exception.

“Then...I guess you’re gonna have to trust that you’re gonna have to trust me.”

Abed nods, once, shortly. “Well, I don’t want to stop being your friend, so...I guess I’ll let you tell me what to do sometimes. Still boyfriends?”

All of a sudden, Troy’s filled with relief, because part of him had kind of thought it was over. In the last few seconds, he had made himself the type of person Abed hates. It’s kind of fucked up that that was what he needed to do to save it all.

“Yeah,” he says, standing up. “Still boyfriends. Always.” _Always._

“Cool,” Abed says. “Cool, cool, cool.”

Maybe they’ll be alright.

“You still gonna go to the Dreamatorium?” Troy asks.

“Oh, yeah, but I think I’m gonna play by myself right now, if that’s okay,” Abed says. (His eyes still look like broken glass.)

Maybe they won’t be.

Maybe Troy didn’t really fix anything, he thinks, as Abed leaves him holding up his hands for their handshake like an idiot. Maybe he just broke it all over again.

**5\. Pillows and Blankets**

It’s late and Troy’s going over the whole situation in his head for the thousandth time. It’s not his fault, right?

Annie had gone into her room as soon as they got back to the apartment. Maybe because the silence was so loaded. Maybe because she wanted Troy and Abed to talk. Either way, she hasn’t come out since.

The two of them change out of their pyjamas and into T-shirts and boxers. Troy thinks they’ve ruined their patterned pyjamas for themselves forever. And it’s kind of fucked up that now they have to sleep in a _blanket fort_ , of all places. But what else is there to do?

It’s not Troy’s fault. It’s not Troy’s fault, and that means that if he forgives Abed, that’s it. They don’t have to think about this anymore. Troy is so tired of thinking.

He dusts of his Relationship Hat and puts it on the nightstand, just in case they need it later.

By the time Troy’s ready to climb into bed, Abed’s already curled up in the bottom bunk, facing the wall. Troy debates taking the ladder to the top bunk, just going to sleep and ignoring this, at least for now. He knows how well talking about it went last time. It’s probably what started this whole war in the first place.

But it’s not his fault.

Abed was the one who hired the impersonators in the first place.

And Troy feels a twinge of guilt, because he’s blaming _Abed_. But the alternative is taking the blame himself, and that’s unimaginable. The weight would crush him. It can’t be his fault, because he can’t be the one to have ruined the best thing in his life.

Troy realises that he’s been walking up to the bunk bed, and before he can stop himself, he impulsively sits next to Abed on his mattress, carefully avoiding his limbs.

He lets out a breath. “I hurt you,” he says.

Silence. Then, muffled, “You did.”

It hits Troy like a ton of bricks. He already knew, but it’s different now that Abed’s said it too.

“You hurt me too,” Troy adds.

“I know.”

That’s so much worse, but at the same time, it makes Troy feel a little better. Like maybe he’s not so bad in comparison. Maybe they ruined this together.

“Okay then,” Troy says quietly. He moves to climb to the top bunk. He wonders if it’s the last night he’ll spend there.

Abed’s hand shoots out from under the blankets and grabs Troy’s arm.

“I’m sorry,” Abed says.

Troy softens. “I know.”

“I know that’s not enough.” Abed’s hand slides down to interlace with Troy’s. It’s kind of awkward, from that angle, but it’s perfect all the same. Comforting, since the only contact between the two of them in the last few days had been pillows hurled at each other’s bodies. Abed turns to look at Troy over his shoulder. His eyes are red around the edges. Abed never cries.

Troy presses his lips together. “Not right now,” he says. “But it might be. Someday.”

“I want to work through this,” Abed says quietly. “I’m just worried that you don’t.”

Troy looks away. He should be relieved, but instead he’s only scared. Angry. Furious at himself. Terrified of what he wants. That he doesn’t know what he wants.

“I do,” he says finally. He doesn’t know if he’s lying. He wants it to be true so badly. Maybe that’s enough.

Abed nods. “Cool.” He squeezes Troy’s hand. The gesture is so familiar that Troy almost smiles out of habit. (That’s what Abed is. Habit. Comfort.) “Do you want to stay down here tonight?”

It might be a bad idea. “Sure,” Troy says, and he crawls under the covers.

They’ll have to take down the blanket fort tomorrow. Too much has changed.

Maybe Troy and Abed haven’t changed, though. Maybe they’re the constant.

**4\. Origins of Vampire Mythology**

“Boyfriends, boyfriends, making a cake!” Troy and Abed chant as they clap their hands together.

Jeff rolls his eyes, but smiles at them affectionately. “I never thought I’d miss it.”

**3\. Basic Lupine Urology**

Abed looks so hot in a blazer and tie, all sharp and angular as he peeks through the study room blinds. It’s not fair.

“Shirley did some more digging,” Annie says. Her voice is muffled through the closed door. “Turns out Todd’s yam never even sprouted.”

“Goes to motive,” Jeff says, leaning against the study room table. “And Star-Burns puts Todd in the classroom at 8:10. Opportunity.”

“Now?” Troy whispers. Abed puts a hand on his chest as if to stop him from walking in. Troy swallows. That’s _so_ not fair.

“Not yet,” Abed replies.

“Add to that a cut on the hand and the Winger charm,” Annie says with a grin, “we might get an A-plus-plus.”

“We still have a lot of work to do.”

“Now,” Abed says, taking a step back before storming into the study room. Troy follows. “Oh, I think you’ve done enough!” Abed says.

“Colonel Archwood got to Star-Burns,” Troy says bitterly. “Threatened to involve the real cops. Now Star-Burns is in the wind.”

“He’s our only witness,” Annie says.

“That’s what you guys do in here?” Abed yells. He tosses up the papers that have piles up on the table. “You push your little papers and you make your little speeches, and in the end another dirtbag walks? Huh?”

“Abed! Abed,” Troy shouts, taking Abed by the shoulders and trying to push him away from the table. “Walk it off! Walk it off!”

Abed shouts indignantly before stomping back out of the room. Troy turns to Jeff and Annie, figuring they’d be impressed by their performance, but they just stare at him blankly. They must be staying in character.

“Sorry about my partner,” Troy says, breathing heavily. “He’s...he’s been on edge ever since we switched.”

He turns to leave, walking out through the door where Abed is waiting around the corner.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” he hears Annie say.

“Gross,” Jeff replies.

**2\. The First Chang Dynasty**

“We’re all going to die,” Shirley says, her voice faint and her face pale.

“We have to get out of here.”

Troy looks over at the air vent, fan spinning and spinning. Those words echo in his head. _Wherever there’s air, we have eyes._ He glances around the room, and sure enough—up in the corner, there’s a security camera. He swallows. He knows what he has to do.

Troy turns back to Abed. “Hey, man,” he says. Abed tilts his head, letting Troy close the space between them, and put a hand on either side of his face. “You know I love you.”

“Yeah,” Abed says. “I love you too.”

Troy pulls Abed into a kiss, and it’s half-desperate, maybe because Abed doesn’t know it should be yet. It’s the last moment they’ll have before Abed knows his plan, before all their actions are tainted by solemn goodbyes. Troy can’t take it. He tries to wipe his eyes as quickly as he can when Abed pulls away.

“We get it. We’re gonna die lonely, you’re not,” Jeff huffs, rolling his eyes. “Whatever. Can we all just focus on the fact that the school is about to be burned down and take us with it?”

“Yeah, maybe take some pity on people who don’t have anyone here to make out with when the world’s ending,” Britta calls.

It’s then when Annie steels herself, sets her jaw, walks up to Britta and presses her lips firmly onto hers. It only lasts a second, and Annie marches away with wide eyes like she can’t believe she just did that, leaving Britta looking just about the same.

Jeff breaks the silence. “Wow. Okay.”

Annie sits back down, crosses her legs and pouts stoutly. “Just because the world’s ending.”

“Called it,” Abed mutters, his hand forming a victorious fist.

Troy doesn’t have time to process that. He looks at the security camera and gives it a slow nod. The fan slows to a stop at his side.

“Oh!” Shirley exclaims. Britta lets out a relieved sigh. Annie looks a little miffed, like her big moment was all for nothing. Troy figures she’ll thank him later.

“Come on,” Jeff says. He leads the way out of the basement.

Abed stands still as everyone else hurries away. He’s looking at Troy with that broken-glass look. “You didn’t,” he says.

Troy presses his lips together. “I had to.”

Abed looks away, but nods, like he understands. Like Troy doesn’t need to explain. He doesn’t wait for Troy as he follows the group.

**1\. Introduction to Finality**

Abed looks better than the last time Troy saw him. Glowing, almost. Radiant. Perfect. His right hand half-curled in that familiar gesture, him looking down at Britta and talking about something or other—Troy doesn’t really care. He wants to say something cool, and calm, and collected, but that’s hard when Abed is making Troy’s brain melt.

“Abed,” Troy says, and he sounds so breathy and stupid and lovesick, and it’s _perfect_ when Abed looks up at him and his jaw slackens and his eyes go all soft.

“Troy,” he says.

“Troy!” Britta grins over her shoulder.

Troy pushes past her to take Abed by the waist and push him against the wall behind. Abed curls his arms around Troy’s neck, and this is it, this is what he was missing, this is what he was _waiting_ for, and it was worth it. Troy’s not sure who moves first, but all of a sudden, they’re kissing feverishly in the middle of the hallway, because really, a few weird glances are a price Troy and Abed are willing to pay.

“Oh,” Troy hears Britta mutter. “Honestly, what was I expecting?”

Abed pulls Troy closer. Troy has to resist the urge to break into a full-blown smile.

“Oh!” Troy hears Shirley exclaim. “Troy?”

He’ll have time to greet her later. Abed is much more important. (And his hair is so soft.)

He pulls away for a moment, his hands still tangled in Abed’s hair. Abed looks dizzy and dishevelled and has a soft smile playing across his lips. It’s really brilliant to look at. Troy is just about to say something when he’s interrupted.

“Ahem,” Jeff says.

Troy turns around with a sheepish grin. Annie’s smiling excitedly, like she can’t wait to run over and give him a hug. Britta’s standing next to her, her hand in hers, so Troy figures there’s good news there. Shirley’s averting her eyes, which is fair enough. Pierce is looking confused—that checks out. Finally, Jeff is looking at him with a mixed look of happiness and exasperation.

“You couldn’t have said hi to us first?” Jeff deadpans.

“Hi,” Troy says.

Annie squeals, running over to hug him tightly. “I can’t believe you’re back! We thought you were gone.”

“Yeah, I made a new rule that the air conditioning repair school has to act like a regular school,” Troy explains. He’s pretty sure Annie’s cutting off his circulation, and he’s about to do something about it when she lets go of him. “I can do that because I’m their messiah.”

“Cool,” Abed says. “I went crazy and I wanted to cut off Jeff’s arm.”

By the look of confusion on Jeff’s face, he didn’t know that particular detail. Troy can’t find it in himself to care.

“I missed you so much, buddy,” Troy says, still grinning stupidly. He reaches out to take Abed’s hand.

“I missed you too.”

**0\. And a movie?**

Troy and Abed have said goodbye too many times.

The universe seems to love pulling them apart, only to push them back together again.

But it’s not the universe that leaves Troy standing at Abed’s apartment door in LA.

It’s just him.

It’s so hard to knock on Abed’s door, and the seconds Troy has to wait for Abed to open it are the longest of his life, but as soon as they see each other, and recognition floods Abed’s face, it’s so easy for them to melt into each other’s arms.

There’s no need to say anything. They’ve done this before.

Sobs wrack Troy’s body, but for once, he doesn’t care.

**Author's Note:**

> Didn’t include anything from seasons 4-6 because I don't feel like writing s4 and also don't feel like crying today.
> 
> Anyway, this was just supposed to be a bit of fun while I take a break from my main WIP, I hope you liked it :)
> 
> Find my main tumblr [here](cowardnthief.tumblr.com), and my Community sideblog [here](basiclupineurology.tumblr.com) and scream into the void with me.


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